


Between Two Evils

by zarabithia



Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-17
Updated: 2007-02-17
Packaged: 2019-05-20 00:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14883863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: An alternative ending to the Smallville episode "Exile."





	Between Two Evils

_"When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before."~Mae West_  
  
A contract was a contract, and for a businessman who'd just lost his wife and two small sons, his contracts were pretty much all Slade Wilson had left. While the kid Morgan Edge wanted eliminated was a bit on the young side, he was adult enough to be a criminal, which erased any hesitation Slade might otherwise have felt towards his demise.

Slade would have gladly killed Clark Kent, if he’d been able to. But by their third encounter and Slade’s sixth attempt to end Kent’s life, even Slade had to admit to a small degree of frustration. The kid didn’t seem killable.

He did, on the other hand, seem insane. It was a dangerous combination - someone stronger and faster than Deathstroke running around with the kind of lunacy that Slade had only seen before in Gotham. Lesser men would have feared his prey, but Slade was mostly amused by the fact that someone with such great potential for destruction wasted their energy on robbing ATMs, going to clubs, and stealing stereo equipment. In many ways, Kent was no more than a child throwing a temper tantrum in the grand flair of Slade’s first born. Though Slade certainly hoped Grant would amount to more than petty thievery.

In fact, the only time Kent seemed to even contemplate harming anyone was when they got in his way. The Terminator couldn’t blame him for that, even if Slade realized that, had he been any other man, he would have long since been killed by Kent during his efforts to end the kid’s life.

Not faulting the kid’s survival instincts, Deathstroke nonetheless remained determined to complete his contract. Time and enough stalking of his prey would reveal soon enough the kid’s weakness, and Deathstroke could be very patient.

It was while monitoring his future kill that Deathstroke observed a phone call home from a phone booth that did in fact reveal a weakness - if not the one the mercenary had been looking for. Two quick shots, from armor-piercing ammunition, took care of the ring and left a whimpering Clark Kent down on his knees when Slade came to stand in front of him.

"You _again_ ," the kid seethed, pain replacing the anger Deathstroke had become accustomed to during his stalking of Kent. The eyes that look up at Slade were no longer full of the untamed rage that reminded Slade so much of Grant. Instead they were full of the kind of haunted hurting that reminded Slade of his youngest.

Deathstroke ignored that particular weakness as he glanced down at kid, taking note of the unique scar across his chest, one that he hadn’t noticed before. "My contract was to eliminate the bank robber stealing Mogan Edge's thunder."

"You can’t kill me," the kid said softly. "God, if there was a way, I’d almost tell you how."

It was a remarkable change from the uncontrolled criminal Deathstroke had been stalking to the self-loathing brat in front of him. All of which had been brought on by the now shattered rock the kid had been wearing on his hand. An admittedly odd circumstance, Slade supposed, but not much different from his own initial reaction to the serum that had molded Deathstroke in the first place.

"I think your bank robbing days are over, aren’t they, Kent?" The contract had been taken care of, in every technical sense of the word, and if Edge wanted to argue with him over the details, the old man was far more killable than the kid.

"Yes." The words were almost inaudible, but too full of inward repulsion to be a lie.

"Get up."

The kid looked mildly insulted - enough to reassure Slade that he wasn’t completely spineless without the ring - but complied. "If you’re planning on taking me to jail. . .I-I won’t fight you."

"Is that really what you want?"

"It’s what I _deserve._ "

"And the folks back home? Do they deserve the repercussions that will come when your secret is unveiled?" Confusion and anger was written on the kid’s face, so Slade clarified, "Because you won’t get to pick and choose which secrets you keep in prison."

"Everything I’ve done. . . I can’t go back to them."

Slade knew better; everything he’d been able to find out about the Kents said they greatly grieved the loss of their son in a way that was almost too close to home. He had no doubt that they would open their arms wide to the kid when he came back home. But if they hadn’t made that clear to their son, that wasn’t Deathstroke’s problem.

"You can’t stay out here by yourself. You don’t have any survival techniques that aren’t related to stealing."

"I’ll get a job," the kid began and Slade didn’t hold back the laugh, much to his companion’s consternation.

"You could indeed try. Might be difficult living on the street, though. Even for an invulnerable type. Unless you plan to stay in that penthouse of yours."

" _No,"_ the kid responded in reply to his first question. Then, more hesitantly, he added, "I’ll figure something out. And why do you care, anyway?"

Slade had his own reasons, among them the blatant curiosity at finding out exactly what could stop a seemingly invulnerable boy. But he didn’t share them. All he offered was, "I see a kid who has no idea what to do with the immense amount of potential he has." He smiled widely behind his mask as he added, "And I know that I can make you better."

The words had a similar effect when Slade used them as they'd had the first time they'd been spoken.


End file.
